By Mannix Porterfield
CHARLESTON — October is off limits for calling a special session on the troubled municipal police and fire pensions in West Virginia cities, Gov. Joe Manchin insisted Monday.
As Manchin met with reporters, Democrats in both the House and Senate caucused in an effort to come to terms on a burgeoning fiscal crisis that is threatening to push Huntington into bankruptcy.
Manchin said the best opportunity to deal with the crisis is in the November interims, since that month historically has been the most productive one for lawmakers.
Besides, he said, this would afford lawmakers almost two full months to hammer out their differences on a bailout plan.
Municipal police and fire pension plans are in trouble across most of the state, but a summerlong effort has failed to produce a consensus among lawmakers.
One idea, labeled “the Huntington Plan,” calls for closing off existing pension accounts and amortizing the debt over an extended period. In the interim, a second plan would be created for new hires.
“I told them if they can come to an agreement and work something out, the only time I think we should have it is in the November interims,” Man-chin said. “That’s the most effective and efficient time to do it.”
If that doesn’t occur, the governor said the issue must wait until the 2010 regular legislative session opens in January.
“October is out,” he said.
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On another issue, Manchin said he is stepping up his efforts to thwart the controversial cap-and-trade measure now lingering in the U.S. Senate — one that coal leaders fear would have a devastating impact on the industry.
Manchin said he is trying to convince President Barack Obama and his advisers to abandon cap-and-trade — which imposes strong emission standards on greenhouse gases but allows industrial leaders to swap with each other if allotments are used up.
As an alternative, Manchin wants more emphasis on clean coal technology.
“It’s not like West Virginia, being the most dependent state on fossils, is not doing anything,” he said. “We believe we have a role to play in this and we can reduce our emissions and our dependency on using coal the way we use it. We think we can do it better. We’re not in any disillusion thinking you can’t use coal, nor can this country, until we find a fuel of the future.”
Manchin said he plans to accelerate his lobbying efforts against the bill, which already has cleared the House of Representatives by a slim margin.
“We think there are smarter, better ways than not inflicting self-inflicted pain economically by just putting a cap-and-trade cost, or a tax, on how much CO2 is emitted and letting people trade and all that,” he said.
Any revenue derived from coal should be invested in finding the right technology that “will really fix the problem,” he said. “I have told the president this and we’ll be going to the White House.
“I’ve spoken to all his advisers. This is very serious. I think they’re starting to look at the economy now. That’s what it is. People need to know what it’s going to cost them. People need to know how much it’s going to affect their opportunities, job creation, or lack of job creation, and job loss.”
After speaking with commissioners in some southern West Virginia counties, Manchin said they appeared “very, very concerned” about the economic morass and their ability to find enough money for their budgets.
“We’re all concerned about this,” he said. “This is very critical.”
— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com
